Governor makes case for tax hikes, spending

Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday said consensus is building around his major new transportation initiatives, but his equally ambitious education plan could prove to be a "harder lift."

David Riley/Daily News staff

Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday said consensus is building around his major new transportation initiatives, but his equally ambitious education plan could prove to be a "harder lift."

In a wide-ranging interview with Daily News editors, Patrick said lawmakers usually react to crises, and they faced one last year with a major budget shortfall at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

The governor described a gap in achievement among Bay State students of different backgrounds and need as a crisis, too, but said not everyone sees it that way.

"It’s a crisis we have accepted in many aspects for 20 years. … I would say it’s not the same sense of crisis," he said.

Patrick on Tuesday put schools and transportation on equal footing while defending proposals to spend an additional $1.9 billion a year on transit upgrades and expansions, Chapter 70 school aid, preschool programs and community colleges.

Patrick said the plans will spur economic growth and start a conversation about the needs of the next generation.

"We have to be about making the hard decisions in our time that make a difference in theirs," he said.

The second-term governor repeated his earlier calls for an "adult" discussion of proposals to fund his plans with an income tax hike, as well as regular increases in the gasoline tax, tolls and transit fares, while trimming the sales tax.

Patrick acknowledged recent scandals, such as evidence of waste in the welfare system, make it more difficult to sell his plan. But he described such issues as "problems that will come up in any large organization" and said he wants to deal with "fact, not anecdote."

The governor said he is encouraged legislative and business leaders haven’t shut the door on his ideas yet.

Patrick said he wants "real regional equity" in his transportation plan. He noted the proposal would significantly boost funding to regional transit authorities.

Still, while Patrick said he favors the idea of tolls at the state borders, he acknowledged his plan for now keeps toll booths only where they already exist, while reinstating them on the western Mass. Turnpike. He also favors expanded electronic tolling, which would eliminate toll-taker positions.

Patrick described his income tax plan as "progressive." He said in the end, tax rates in Massachusetts would remain competitive with other states.

Touching on other issues, the governor suggested he might file more legislation on criminal sentencing reform. Pointing to reforms in other states based on research by the Pew Charitable Trusts, he said he wants Pew to do similar work here.

"There’s a lot I want to do that I didn’t mention in the state of the state (address)," he said.

On gun control, the governor has proposed limiting gun purchases to one a month to combat resale of legally-bought firearms on the street, but he said on Tuesday he is open to other ways to tackle the problem.

"I think the mental health registry idea is an idea whose time has come," he said, referring to his proposal to share mental health records with a FBI database for background checks.

On the state crime lab scandal, Patrick said several supervisors who have been fired or resigned did not grasp that the "integrity of the justice system" was at stake in their oversight of former chemist and Franklin resident Annie Dookhan.

"Ms. Dookhan appears to be a troubled person," Patrick said, adding that such people should not get such sensitive jobs in the future.

The governor also defended his appointment of former chief of staff William "Mo" Cowan as interim senator to fill John Kerry’s seat, saying no one is more intimately familiar with the issues the state faces.

"I am very confident I got the right person," Patrick said.

(David Riley can be reached at 508-626-4424 or driley@wickedlocal.com.)